Food

Isla Mujeres eats well if you steer for the water and away from the view. Being a Caribbean fishing island, seafood is the whole game.

What to eat

• Fresh fish and ceviche. Whatever came off the pangas that morning: grilled whole fish, shrimp, octopus, and ceviche done Yucatecan-style with lime and habanero. This is the reason to eat here.
• Tikin xic. The regional signature, fish marinated in achiote and sour orange, wrapped and grilled. Worth ordering at least once.
• Yucatán classics. You are in Yucatecan territory, so cochinita pibil tacos, panuchos and salbutes turn up on menus and at market stalls. Cheap, filling and good.
• Lobster, in season. Priced for tourists but genuinely good at the better marisquerías.

Where to eat and rough prices

• Market and lonchería stalls inland run cheapest, tacos and a full comida corrida for a few dollars.
• Mid-range town restaurants a block or two off the beachfront do a plate of fresh fish or ceviche for a moderate sit-down price.
• Beachfront and sunset spots at Playa Norte and Punta Sur charge a clear premium for the setting. Fine for a drink at sunset; not where the best-value food is.

These are approximate ranges; the island’s prices swing with season and location.

A friend’s advice

Eat your seafood where the fishermen sell it, not where the sunset is. The marisquería a few streets back will beat the waterfront place on freshness and price, every time.